Many people in the construction industry are talking
about Building Information Modeling (BIM). Most architecture and engineering
firms indicate that they are utilizing BIM to some degree on a percentage of
their projects. But what is BIM? Does BIM mean the same thing to an architect
as it does to an engineer, to a construction manager, to an owner, to facility
maintenance personnel?
To reap the benefits, there has to be investment. As we
emerge from recession, companies and clients remain reluctant to adopt change.
Many are even uncertain as to where change will need to be made.
According
to the 2009 McGraw-Hill Smart Market Report ‘The Business Value of BIM,’ nearly
two-thirds (63%) of BIM users say they see positive ROI on their overall
investment in BIM, with 15% reporting an ROI of 50% or more and the remaining
20% believe they are breaking even. Architects who are the highest users of BIM
report the highest gain in productivity. Contractors are gaining ground faster than
any other group as they discover the uses of BIM beyond the design process.
What and how BIM will change the construction
process.
The project phases of a traditional project starting
from architecture side are schematic design, design development, construction
documentation and construction administration. Additionally, these phases
generally last for the same lengths of time. When a project uses BIM, phases
can be consolidated into design, documentation and bid/build. The design phase
lasts longer while the documentation phase is shorter.
In this article we will discuss BIM from Owners
perspective.
Building information modeling is a process – offering
significant benefits for a construction project and the project owner: faster
delivery, higher quality, cost certainty, lower risk, green performance and
more efficient operation.
Some of the benefits the client can accomplish are:
· 20-30% higher productivity in the construction phase
and reduce overall project delivery time during the design phase as well as the
construction phase.
·
Reduction of Requests for Information (RFI) and Change
Orders (CO) by a factor of ten or more,
·
Response time from designers and architect to owner’s
questions can compress,
·
Higher engagement and buy-in of all important
stakeholders,
· More design options from more perspectives with a
similar budget and time schedule than traditional methods,
·
Afford a high degree of analysis of building systems,
alternative materials, equipment, and technologies which leads to more informed
decision-making,
·
Reduce contractor uncertainty, which leads to a more
accurate cost picture and more consistent bids,
· Increase overall accuracy of project documentation,
· Help the project team develop a practical and cohesive
phasing plan.
· Utilize as a Programming Tool, Energy Analysis Tool, Coordination
tool, Estimate tool,
·
As built models can be used as
§ Maintenance
§ Space
management
§ Asset
management
§ Renovations
and upgrades
·
Facility Management
So….. What is holding clients to
mandate BIM in their projects? …………....
Initial Investment? …….ROI?
To reap the benefits, there has to be investment. As we
emerge from recession, companies and clients remain reluctant to adopt change.
Many are even uncertain as to where change will need to be made.
Return
on Investment (ROI) for BIM in the Architecture Engineering and Construction
(AEC) industry is well documented generally concluding that Earnings/Cost =
ROI. The greatest cost in companies implementing BIM is the cost involved
re-training staff.
The
decision to adopt BIM involves change in three areas:
·
People,
·
Process and
·
Technology.
The people issue is often considered a major hurdle:
supply chain partners must work transparently and collaboratively as they
contribute to the shared model. Designers have to know how to use – even create
– a BIM. Training will probably be needed. A series of discussions need to be
carried out to remove the anxiety among the some stakeholders about a lack of
technical skills, while for others the need for culture change was the hardest
part.
Change is also needed in business process: BIM is not just
a replacement for CAD and must be underpinned by a clear strategy. The
collaborative working needed is a far cry from the historical structure of the
industry, with its compartmentalisation and emphasis on individual profit margins
to the detriment of the project as a whole.
The third area of change is technology. BIM adopters will
have to explore the software market and invest in the software that is right
for them. Some companies will want to upgrade their hardware.
In the construction industry, estimates tend to be
manual. Finishes, door hardware, and windows, for example, all tend to be
manually counted, measured and quantified using a spreadsheet (i.e. Excel).
There is no link back to the design or the construction documents. Changes made
to the design need to be filtered through to the CDs to the estimates. When
costs are found to be too expensive in an estimate, that needs to be
communicated back, considered in the design (which in turn gets updated in the
CDs and on and on…). With a project done in BIM, there is a conversation being
continually had by all parties (technologically, or model to model, not
verbally). Therefore, estimates are derived directly from the model. The oft
used phrase is, a change anywhere is a change everywhere. This is exactly what
makes the BIM process more efficient.
Please send me your suggestions and comments to
jobancpaul@gmail.com
